Paradise: Faith (Paradies: Glaube)

Year: 2012
Country: AUSTRIA, GERMANY, FRANCE
Run Time: 113 minutes

After her husband’s accident cripples him, Anna retreats completely into her religion. She travels with a statue of the Virgin Mary, forcing herself into strangers’ homes to convert whomever she can. In her own room, she scourges herself to atone for the world’s sins. Her husband, a Muslim, is returning home to resume as normal a life as possible. But for Anna that requires a complete surrender to Jesus and a Spartan life of prayer and sacrifice. Her husband will have none of it. An intense spiritual battle begins between them, one that soon launches a terrifying escalation into emotional and physical warfare. It rapidly becomes a question of survival as much as salvation. Walking the line between faith and obsession, this unsettling and powerful film raises primal questions with its sharply observant and often shocking imagery. Though standing alone, this is a thematic companion to “Paradise: Love” and “Paradise: Hope.” PARADISE: FAITH is a starkly original film experience. (In German with subtitles) – C.R.

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